Govt to revive 13-year-old fodder scam case

MUMBAI, APRIL 3: Minister of State for Tribal Development Prakash Awade, on Monday announced in the Legislative Assembly that the government would conduct a fresh inquiry into the 13-year-old fodder scam involving IAS official Girish Gokhale. The latter had been let off by the previous Chief Minister, Narayan Rane, despite a clear indictment by the inquiry committee. Rane, who was present in the House, remained speechless even as the minister repeated the statement at least three times.

Answering a starred question raised by Mangalprabhat Lodha and others, on whether the one member Srivastava committee probing the irregularities in the procurement of fodder by the Tribal Development Corporation during 1987-88 had submitted its report and whether the government had taken any action, the minister said that the committee had submitted its report but the previous government had not accepted the recommendations of the report.

Awade said that the committee had been appointed during Manohar Joshi’s tenure as the Chief Minister. when it submitted its report, Narayan Rane was the CM. He informed the House that despite clear indictment of Gokhale in the fodder scam, Rane had allowed Gokhale to opt for voluntary retirement and closed the case.

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Several BJP members, including Lodha, Vijay Gavit and Saradar Tara Singh, demanded a fresh inquiry into the case. The minister accepted the demand. He informed the House that the inquiry panel had passed strictures against Gokhale for the lapses in the procurement of fodder for the Tribal Development Corporation. He reiterated that despite clear indictment of the panel, Rane had allowed Gokhale to take voluntary retirement.

Rane, who was present during the discussion, continued to wear a sheepish smile, and did not utter a word, despite the minister pointing an accusing finger at him several times.